Outsourcing your company’s bookkeeping and accounting needs is a hassle-free way to cut costs and boost your bottom line. Even if you don’t want to ax your current accounting department, hiring professional bookkeepers for special projects or periods of expansion will prevent you from having to pay costly overtime.

Of course, you must find the right virtual comptroller services provider first. With so many to choose from, which online bookkeeping business do you choose?

To save you some time and energy, we’re going to discuss some key questions you’ll want to consider before hiring a virtual bookkeeping service:

1. Does my company need a remote bookkeeper?
2. What should I look for when choosing an online bookkeeping service?
3. How much should I pay for a virtual bookkeeping service?

Does My Company Need a Remote Bookkeeper?

The only difference between an in-house accountant and a remote bookkeeper is the cost. A virtual bookkeeper can do everything an internal accountant does but at a much more affordable rate.

Many small businesses and startups don’t need a full-time accounting department. Instead, they can opt to utilize various accounting software, such as Quicken, in conjunction with an outsourced bookkeeping service to meet specific needs, such as help with taxes or getting messy financial records in shape.

Our Bookkeeping Team, for example, is composed of ex-auditor certified public accountants (CPAs) ready to assist or replace your existing finance and accounting departments with a full spectrum of bookkeeping services that can be packaged to suit any business’ needs, including:

• Inventory accounting, including maintaining and costing inventory in compliance with GAAP
• Accounts receivable and collections, such as proper revenue recognition, billing, and collection
• Accounts payable and bill payment, accurate record-keeping for expenses, and payables to ensure proper accounting cut-off procedures with the timely payment of payables
• Payroll services
• Preparation of all audit schedules
• Preparation of US GAAP compliant financial statements
• Management of the audit process
• Preparation of forms 10K and 10Q

If you don’t have the strongest accounting chops, that’s okay. The skills needed to start and run a business don’t necessarily overlap with the specialized skills needed to organize and report your company’s financial data. Hiring a virtual bookkeeping service like Our Bookkeeping Team will ensure your finances are given the same priority as your day-to-day business operations.

What Should I Look for When Choosing an Online Bookkeeping Service?

Anyone who performs accounting functions, which is essentially the recording and reporting of business and financial transactions, can call themselves an accountant – even if they don’t have a degree.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but business finances tend to be more complicated than what meets the eye. You want to ensure the virtual bookkeeping service you choose can handle anything that is thrown their way.

For example, if your business is suddenly facing an audit, you’ll want a certified public accountant (CPA) in your corner. CPAs are the only type of accountants who can prepare audited or reviewed financial statements. There are some CPAs-turned-bookkeepers who were once auditors themselves – which is an experience that can give you valuable insight into the complicated world of IRS audits and save you from major headaches down the road.

An outsourced bookkeeping service should also be familiar with the various business accounting programs available. Choosing a professional accounting service that is familiar with a variety of accounting systems is useful in not only ensuring they can work with your current software, but knowing they have the flexibility to learn a different software should you choose a new platform that better suits your business needs.

An experienced professional bookkeeping service will not only be able to adapt quickly, but also have the insight to know every business has different financial needs. What a family-owned bakery needs will be far different than a tech startup. Hence, they will offer tailored-made bookkeeping packages to suit your company’s needs.

Virtual Bookkeeping Service Checklist:

• Certified Public Accountants
• Familiarity with your industry
• Can work with a variety of accounting systems
• Offer customized bookkeeping packages

How Much Should My Business Pay for a Virtual Bookkeeping Service?

To answer this question, you must first decide what your business truly needs from a virtual bookkeeping service. This will prevent you from paying for services you won’t end up using.

For instance, do you need to hire a remote bookkeeper to help you with a short-term special project on a monthly basis, or are you looking for a professional bookkeeping service to act as your sole accounting department?

You should also consider what you would be paying or are currently paying for each in-house accountant. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for accountants and auditors is nearly $74,000 per year. That doesn’t include costs such as employer-based health insurance, retirement benefits, social security and other taxes, and utilities.

When you hire a virtual bookkeeping service, you only pay an agreed-upon amount. Keep in mind when pricing out a virtual bookkeeper, you should ask whether they charge an hourly rate or a flat fee.

Here’s a checklist of discussion points to use when talking to a prospective virtual bookkeeper about pricing:

• Exact services required
• Fee structure: flat fee or hourly?
• Service packages
• Project deadlines
• Protocol for emergency situations (will they cost extra?)
• How they’ve handled past challenges (essentially, are they worth their quoted price?)

Contact Our Bookkeeping Team to Make Us Your Bookkeeping Team

Our Bookkeeping Team is comprised of knowledgeable industry veterans with experience across a variety of industries and accounting and finance systems.

Our team of ex-auditor CPAs are ready to assist startups and small businesses with all their bookkeeping needs, from routine payroll and inventory functions to more specialized needs, such as management of the auditing process and tax preparation.

Our Bookkeeping Team offers quality full-time or as-needed services at an affordable rate to suit any business budget.

Whether you need a professional virtual bookkeeping service to assist your current accounting department in their daily functions or need a full-time accounting team, we offer tailor-made packages at a set monthly fee.

Call Our Bookkeeping Team to discuss your virtual bookkeeping needs today: 213-468-8316. You can also fill out our contact form here.